Garage door



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W. A. SMBTH GARAGE DOOR Filed June 25, 1934 2 Sheets--Sheei Vj.

` INVENTOR, )6i/@slag fl y'j W. A. SMITH Jan. 12, v1937.

GARAGE DOOR Filed June 25, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 12v,- 1937 UNITED STAT-Es PATENTll OFFICE 2,067,623 GARAGE noon Wesley A. Smith. Detroit, llloh. Application June 25, 1934', Serial No. 732,2 6 Claims. (Cl. 2li-18) This invention relates to doors for garages or other buildings having openings through which persons and vehicles are to pass, the object being to provide a one-piece door rotatable near its upper end about a horizontal-axis and that so hung in'relation to the weighted upper end that the door assembly is in a state of balance in a partially open position whereby upon initial manual movement toward eitherV the open or 1.o closed position, the door'is moved automatically by gravity to complete the closing or opening movement.

An additional feature and object of the invention is to provide a releasable lock element' 15 to securely hold the door in open position in a substantially horizontal plane for automatically locking the door on movement to closed position.

An object and feature of this invention is to provide a door which is adjustable laterally of the door opening to enable the same to be centered and vertically adjustable also to properly position the Vdoor member of the opening and to the floor line or bottom of the opening.

An additional object and feature of the in-' vention is to provide. a yieldable element at the lower edge of the door to compensate for variations in the floor surface subsequent to installation of the'door. The adjusting feature for posi.

tioning the door is in the nature of a trunnion which, in the event of a ysettling of one side or the other of the door, enables the door to be` squared in relationship thereto in conjunction with which are provided stop or filler strips at each vertical edge of the door and extending into the opening o f the door frame against which the door closes.

It is further an object and feature of 'the invention to provide a doorv of sheet metalv con- 40 struction of suiiicient strength for the purpose carrying at its upper end a sheet metal housing lled with material to provide a counterbalancing weight for-the Idoor above the trunnions practically equivalent or equal to the weight of the door portion below the trunnions.

These and other objects and various novel features ofthe invention are hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and the preferred form of construction of a door embodying my invention and a framed opening therefor. is shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. .l is an elevation of the door from the inside. f

Fig. 2 is ,a section of the door taken on. line as j 2K2 or Fig. 1.

in relation to the top cross` Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the trunnion taken on line 3-8 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a section through the door and latch element for locking the door in closed position taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. 5

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the door taken on line 5 5 oi' Fig. 1 showing the door in the closed position.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the door in open position and the locking means for holding 10 the same in the open position.

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the locking means in released position.

As shown in Fig. 1, the opening for the door has the vertical sides I and 2 anda top rail 3, 15 the rail I being shown in cross section in Fig. 4. Each vertical railv or stile of the frame has a filler' bar 4 attached thereto and extending into the opening and against which the door member having the metal face seats. 'Ihe door has a 20 ange 6 at each vertical edge engaging against the outer face of the ller members 4. The door proper is preferably made of comparatively thin vsheet metal having the V shaped ribs 1 therein to strengthen the same against deformation in 25 its longitudinal plane. Bars or channels 8, 9, .I0 and II are provided across the inner face of the door to support lthe same against transverse deformation. The side edges oi' the door are provided by Z shaped bars l2 which are of 30 greater width at the top than at the bottom as will be understood from Fig. 5 and-on the exterior face of these bars and channels is the sheet metal door surface 5, it being inturned about a. flange of each of thel side bars I2 as a5 will be understoodfrom Flg. 4. The upper end of the door is formed by the hollow metal member I3 secured by bolts I4 to the Z bars I2. 'Ihis member may be filled with a cement I5' into which the upper edge of the sheet metal 5 40 may extend as'shown in Fig. 5.

The door is supported by trunnions indicated generally at I6 in Figs. 1 and 3. These trunnions consist of a U shaped bar I1 which is bolted to the door frame and a bolt I8 passes 45 through the free end of one leg of the U and through the other leg into'the member 4 subsequent to positioning thesupporting member I9 inplace. The member I9 is of cylindrical form and flanged at its opposite ends as indicated at 50 2li to engage opposite edges of the U member to prevent longitudinal displacement. Through this member on each side of the door extends a threaded bolt 2| in each case and on these two bolts the door is supported, there being a bracket 56 22 on each s ide of the door attached to the cross bar I0 and having an eye 23 at its outer end shown in Fig. 2 which is slotted at 24 to receive the bolt. On opposite sides of the eye is a nut 25 and 2S on the bolt by which theV eye is clamped in place, the eye permitting vertical adjustment of the door relative to the opening and to the trunnions. The supporting member I9 is vertically adjustable in the U member I1 and is supported by a vertical bolt 21 having a lock nut 28 thereon and thus variation in position of the bolt 2l in the eye piece and variation ofA the bolt 21 in the U member permits of the necessary vertical adjustment of the door relative to-the opening. The adjustment of the bolt 2i in the eye 23 enables the door to balance in practically half open position as such adjustment permits moving' the weighted end of the door nearer to or farther from the pivot point. Also, these-bolts 2i of the trunnions permit lateral adjustment of the door relative to the opening by variation in position ofthe nuts; 25 and 26 therein so that the door may be centered between the frames i and 2 and with the flange 6 overlying the iiller strips 4 as shown in Fig. 4.

The metal portion 5-of the door does not extend to the floor-line 29 shown in Fig. l and to ll this space between' the bottom edge of the metal portion of the door and the iloor line 29, I provide a exible strip 30 which may be of rubber and canvas or other appropriate mate.- rial and this is secured to the lower edge of thedoor by bolts extending through abar 3i, the

- iiexible member 3l) and the bottom edge ,of the sheegmetal portion 5 of the door. By this means any variation in the level ofthe iioor subsequent to installation" of the door, which is usually of. cement as indicated in Fig. 5, does not cause the door to stick or'to be distorted bypressure as -the exible element will conform to limited vari- ,f ation in the oor surface.

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The major feature of the invention resides in the provision of a door .turnable on a horizontal axis near the upperend and at a height from the oor line to `permit an ordinary passenger automobile or person to pass beneath the door when in the horizontal position and in so weighting the. door that when released from its closed position, it will balance at an angle to the vertical' as indicated by the dotted line a in Fig. 5 and in association with the door of a means for automatically locking it in the full open position against displacement., 'Ihis locking means comprises a lever 32 pivotally supported at its upper en d to any convenient part of the building structure here shown as a rafter 33 and has a series of apertures 34: therein intermediate its ends.

31 vand 38 are pivoted at one end to the bar 32 at one of the apertures 34 and at the opposite end are pivotedat 39 to'ears 40 provided at the upper edge of the casing I3. These ears are preferably formed of a bar extending into the dement and projectingfrom the upper edge oi the casing I3 'holding fthe cement. Thus the lever 32 lies betweenthe arms 31 and 38 as shownin Figfl and the oifset end 35 engages against the freeend of a releasing latchv 4l vpivoted on the bolt extending through the ears and bars 31 and 38. When the door is' opened and turned on its pivotal support from the positiorrshowninfFig. 5 to @the position shown in Fig. 6, the bars 31, 38 andr32 are folded together and the point'34of connection ofy the levesjl and 38 to the bar 32 lies inside a line passing from the pivot point 39 to the pivotpoint of the bar 32 in its bracket on the rafter 33. Thus when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 6, any weight 'or wind pressure applied to the outer free end of the door tends to press the pivot point between the bars 31, 38 and 32 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6 and this forces the end35 of the bar 32 tightly in contact with the latch member 4I andv prevents movement of the pivot point 34 of these bars and will sustain any weight orv pressure short of such weight as would deform the parts. `If nowv it is desired to release the door from the full open position, the latch member4l is operated in the manner indicated in Fig.7 to move the end 35 of the lever 32 outwardly of the door and moving the pivot .point 34 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 'I

- permitting the door to turn by its own weight on its horizontal axis.

The latch 4i may be operated by a cord 42 shown in Fig. 7 as attached to the short end of the pivoted latch 4l and a pull on this cord turns the latch as shown in Fig. 7 to release the lockingI or holding mechanism. This release may also be accomplished by a cord 43 shown in Figs. 5 and 6, it being attached to the offset end .35 of the lever 32 extending over a pulley 44 supy'portenl in thebuilding structure and the-cord may,then pass out of the building= to the house forinstance and a pull thereon willrelease the door to swing by its own weight on the pivot.

This ord 43 may of Acourse rn to any con- 'x-venient point within reach-of theoperator when latch 4l may be-dispensed with. u Upon closing the door it is desired that it be locked and a convenient means of locking the Adoor in the closed position and that will automatically lock in swinging the door to closed position consistsoi' the; latch 45 shown in- Fig. 4 and slidable in the casing provided therefor by means of a handle 46 on the exterior of thedoor having a. lever 41 engaging in an aperture provided in a rearwardly extending portion 48 of the latch which is to be understood as being spring-pressed to the position shown in Fig. 4. Thus to open the door this latch member must ilrst be withdrawn'from -the locking position shown-and while lnot so shown, this may be a key-operated structure. Preferably, upon the iiller member 4 is provided a strike plate 49 which, on the closing movement of the door in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, the inclined lface of the latch 45 engages the strike plate and when the door comes to closed position engages'behind the strike plate.'

Thus, it will be seenfrom the foregoingl description that by using ribbed sheetmetalV and a stiiening framework, a door comparativelyflight in weight is secured and-yet of sufficient strength to eiiiciently serve its purpose. The door is also vertically and laterally adjustable 'to properly position the same in the framed opening provided therefor and by means of the slotted ears 23 the point at which the door will balance in practically open position, as indicatedl bythe dotted line a in Fig'.v 5, may be determined. When so balanced the Vdoorl may be initially started to swing upon its horizontalpivot, either to open or closed position and thereafter, due to the counter-balancing of the door by the weighted end above the pivot point, movement to the full open or closed'position is completed by gravity and the door is .faummaucauy locked I5 in such position against accidentalddisplacment.

Itis fin'ther 'pointed out that the invention is not conned to a door formed oi' metal as a door or banier oi any desired or commonly used'material for door constructions may be utilized and various departures made from the speciilc construction shown as fall within the spirit and l scope of the appended claims.

lIt will also be observedthat the various objects of the invention are attained Yby the construction described.

, Having thus fully described my invention, its. utility and mode o f operation, what I claim and desire to secure-by Letters Patente! the United States is- I l. The combination with a framed opening of a building having vertical stiles, a top and a bottom, oi a door for closing the opening, means for supporting the door to turn on a horizontal axis.'

a counter-balancing weight for' the door, means for adjusting the door laterally of the axis to center the same between the vertical sides of the opening, means for adjusting the door transversely oi' its horizontal axis .whereby the center ci' gravity of the weighted door passes approximately through the axis when the door is in a partially open position and enabling the door. to

automatically move by action of gravity to a fully closedl or a fully open position upon displacement in one direction or another from its balanced position and a iexible elementforming e the lower edge fof thedoor and engaging the bottom. Y

2. The combination with a framed opening in a vertical wall .of.a building. of V, door supported therein and turnable about -a horizontal axis near its upper end to horizontal open position or vertical closed position, a counter-balancing lweight extending across the upper end of. thedoor and xed to the upper edge thereof in position to balance the door at an angle to the vertical, means for adjusting the door transversely ofthe pivot point to thereby adjust the position oi the door to balance in 'partially open position, a releasable latching means for holding the door in the closed position, and means 'for automatically locking the door from movement on its axis when turned toffull open horizontal position.

3. -Thecombination with the framed opening in a vertical wall 'of a building, of a door for closing the same, means `for supporting the door to swing on a horizontal axis adjacent its upper end, a weight at the upper end of the door, means for 'adjusting lthe axis of rotation wherebyA the weight is so positioned that the door is in a state" IA- balance in a partially open position and as the -door is swung in either direction past the piane of balance by manual force the door automaticalvcured to the door, a cylin 3 1y swings'to a muy open or fully closed tion respectively, means automatically lochng the door .when moved to' :lull open horizontal position, said last named means including a tog- -gie arrangement in which the pivot point is moved to one side of a neutral position, and means for actuating the leverage device to move the pivot point to the opposite side and thereby permit Athe toggle 'to i'old and enable the 'door to be closed. y

4. The combination with a framed opening o! a door of less width than the width ot the opening, illler strips at each vertical edge 'of the door opening against which the door may close, said 1 door comprising longitudinal side bars each having an outwardly extending flange, a sheet metal.

cover member for the side frames inturned over the said flanges the anges, when the door is closed, seating against the illler strips. bracing means Yto support the side frames and sheet posii metal member, said sheet metal member having longitudinally extending grooves formed therein vto brace the metal against bending longitudinally. a horizontal pivotal support for the door adjacent its upper end on which the door may turn,

said pivotal support comprising a bracket secured to each vertical side o'f thed r frame, a bolt se# member through which the bolt extends, sai bracket supporting the said member from movement horizontally,V

door in a partially open position thereby pro- `vlding a door that will automatically move-byv gravity to fully open or closed positionupon displacement to one respective side or the other oi the plane of balance.

6. The combination with a framed opening in a vertical plane, of a door for closing the opening, means for supporting the door to turn on a horizontal axis above its transverse center plane. a counter-balancing weight on the upper end of the door so positioned relative to the horizontal axis asto cause the center of gravity topass approximately through said axis tov balancethe. door in -a partially open position and to automatically cause the door to move from said partially open position to fully closed position when moved in a corresponding direction from said point oi balance. Y

, AA. SMITH. 

